Northwestern California University School of Law - My Journey

[ss20ts]

As everyone knows, the school is accredited by the CA Bar, but is not ABA accredited.   Initially you can only practice in CA, but can also do Federal or Indian cases if you apply to those bars.  However, after you pass the bar and practice for a number of years you can apply for licensure in some other states.  

I started last Thursday and I'll try to update through the 4-year journey.  I did watch a lot of My Life As Macy on Youtube.   She is a second year, and has done vlogs of her first year.  Her recommendations for how to organize, along with the school's are excellent.  I work fulltime, so I'll be studying 4 evening hours Mon-Thurs, and about 5 hours on Saturday.    I also have commute time to listen to lectures, and my lunch hours will be doing definitions, or watching lectures.  Basically I won't have a life for the next four years.

Here are my first week impressions and info:

• really impressed with the tools, resources, and organization that the school provides
  
• impressed with the professors I've met - they want to help and for you to succeed
  
• each class has a syllabus that tells you exactly what to do for each of the first eight weeks, then for each month after that
  
• you take 4 courses the first year - Intro to Law, Torts, Contracts, and Crim Law
  
• the lessons are live, recorded, and audio, something for everyone or any place/time you are studying
  
• you can watch or attend a classes led by different professors to find someone whose style clicks with you
  
• the school has it's own student portal that is robust and easy to navigate
  
• you have access to LexisNexis, but I have explored it yet
  
• you have access to Cali Lessons that are lessons, podcasts, etc., seems to be a really good resource
  
• you can start any month and they normally start people on the 10th or the 25th
  
• must of the students are 30 years old and older - I'm probably one of the oldest
  
• the week before I started I watched a lot of youtube law classes from around the US so I was familiar with how lectures were done
  
• the school's admin team has been good and easy to work with and very responsive.
  

Approximate costs - even the little stuff as it adds up:

• about $4000 a year in tuition - you can split it into 12 payments (you send pre-dated checks)
  
• about $600 of misc fees at the start of your year
  
• I spent about $1500 on my first year books, outlines, dictionary, etc. - for the first year I bought new books - you can definitely get used ones for about half and that's what I'll do for future years.  I also got some other books and audio that weren't recommended, but the first year I wanted to see what would help me the most.
  
• I spent $100 in sending them my transcripts
  
• I spent about $100 in office supplies to set it up like My Life As Macy
  
• I decided the first day that I needed a faster printer (black/white) for all of the syllabi (about 50 pages each), but printers are most out of stock due to supply chain issues, so I'll limp along with my tiny inkjet for a while longer
  
• I decided my second day that I needed a heavy duty 3-hole punch
  

I'm really enjoying my first week and I think the study plan is tough, but doable.

They have a formal and informal FB page and students are on Reddit too.

http://www.nwculaw.org

Class of 2026 

It will be interesting to see if they are admitted to the ABA since they have recently made changes about online programs. Syracuse University now has a hybrid JD. It's mostly online along with some synchronous online courses and on campus residencies of which there are 6. The SU program is ABA approved and costs a boatload more. 

How is the program going for you? By now I'm thinking you've completed at least a semester so you have a good feel for how the program will be. Do you take 1 class at a time? You mentioned having 4 classes the first year. Is the program 15 week long semesters or 8 week terms?